Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 113

Richmond Timos-DUpafch Sunday Dpcgmhrr 9 1951 A-3 i JWftf I The Mystery of Theodosia Burr Fading Legends of Shipwreck and Piracy Touch on Cape Charles and Alexandria But After 139 Years None Knotos the Truth ft 6 Vf Ik fl' ifvt -Vv: Jr 1 $: In 1816 at Tavern In Alexandria a female stranger died and man still think she may have been the daughter of Aaron Burr By Margaret Winslow Fowler AN A December morning in 1812 The Patriot a trim little schooner bound for New York put out from Winway Bay Aboard ship was Theodosia Burr Alston the beautiful young wife of the Governor of South Carolina and the idol of her father Aaron Burr The Patriot a no- torious privateer was to have made port in six days But with all hands aboard the little vessel sailed in oblivion For ninety years after the tragic disappearance of Theodosia Burr persons from every part of the country claimed knowledge of her fate Heart hside stories spun themselves into one of the most mysterious sagas in the annals of American history Governor Alston had commissioned The Patriot for his voyage to New York Theodosia was to have been reunited with her father w-ho had returned after four years of exile in Europe When it was that the lady was to come aboard the ship's guns were dismantled her fighting crew dismissed and a light cargo of rice taken on to cover the rich spoils of war in the vessel's hold Thus unarmed The Patriot was to run the gauntlet of British men-of-war Papers Taken Along The time of departure was December 30 At noon of that day Governor Alston saw his wife aboard Timothy Green an old family friend was to accompany Mrs Alston since the Governor could not leave the State in time of war Green had previously written to Burr that "Mrs Alston was bent on going" Alston delivered a letter to Captain Over-locke the ship's master addressed to the British Admiralty and asked in the event blockade permission for passage 'due to However- one September night in 1816 a ship from the West Indies slipped into Alexandria Virginia to put ashore an Englishman and a beautiful young woman Before the vessel was Identified she had put to sea The couple found rooms at the Gadsby Tavern and the tnan at once sought aid for the woman ill from fever whom he asaid was his wife No one saw the patient save a Dr Richards and a woman called in as nurse but every one at the Tavern became acquainted with the stranger a man of obvious culture The young woman lived only a few weeks and was buried in St Cemetery by her heartbroken companion who before leaving Alexandria erected over her grave a tomb enscribed To the memory of a female stranger whose mortal suffering terminated on the 14th day of October 1816 The charming Englishman vanished- dishonoring heavy gambling debts and leaving behind an unpaid tavern bill The woman was never identified Dr Richards afterwards told of his harrowing mercy visits to the tavern for the Englishman cautioned the good man he would shoot him if he sought identity of the female stranger Each visit was made under the wavering guard of two pistols Some years later the Gadsby mystery man was imprisoned in Sing Sing for forgery He was recognized by a citizen of Alexandria who asked his identity but authorities said the prisoner bore so many aliases that his real name was not known The whisper rail that the hapless woman might have been Theodosia Burr the victim of a -pirate captain similar to Steed Bonnett another cultured English gentleman who a few years before had been hanged for piracy at Charleston There was as much reason to believe cultural advantages and under his tutelage she had become the most sparkling feminine conversationalist of her time the favorites of American and European intellectuals When at 19 she had married Joseph Alston young lawyer and planter of South Carolina Burr had written: have completely satisfied all that my heart and affection had hoped or even wished" A Bod 3' Washes Asliore Aaron Burr Kept a daily vigil along New York Battery those first weeks of 1813 waiting for the ship that Alston had seen vanish When weeks passed without word from the vessel ft was assumed The Patriot had gone down in the gale that swept the coast on New Day and scattered the British fleet off Hatteras But the public refused to believe that beautiful Theodosia Burr Alston was dead Early in January of that year the body of a young woman cf obvious refinement was washed ashore at Cape Charles Virginia The Patriot was the' only known ship missing 'in the storm and the body migbt have been that of Theodosia Unidentified and buried among strangers the remains were laid in an unmarked grave Social circles of New York Richmond and Charleston preferred to think of mutiny Rumors began to circulate that Theodosia Burr was held captive somewhere and would return Ironically her father's seal was that of a rock holding fast in a high sea' with the inscription: Nec flactu' nec fluctu (neither by wind nor by -wave) The husband and father discredited the mutiny stories probably preferring to believe 'that death by drowning wa more merciful than the humiliation which captivity might hold There Was a Virginian They Called 6 Texas Jack 9 that the Alexandria female stranger was Theodosia Burr as there was reason to believe the numerous deathbed confessions concerning her fate which followed through the year The first came from Mobile Alabama in 1833 An old sailor during his last hours confessed that he had been a member of a pirate ship that had overtaken the privateer looted her rich spoils and murdered the crew When none of the lawless men had the heart to take the life of the beautiful woman aboard lots were drawn and it fell to the Alabamian to hold the gang plank on which the supposed Theodosia Burr walked to her death The Mobile Register headlined the story and it was widely copied by the press At last the public felt assured of the fate of Theodosia Burr Alston Then confessions began to come from all called to see the Virginia cowboy st the Old Exchange Hotel on East Franklin Street and the newspapers of the day gave glowing At Rest in Leadville During his stage career Jack met a Mile Morlacchi thrn billed as the premiere danseuse of the American stage It was rot long before the handsome six-foot two-inch Virginian had w'on the affection of Mile Morlacchi They were married on Sept 1 1873 Both continued Jn show business and in 1879 went to Leadville' Colo which almost due to the discovery of rich silver mines had become a boom city with a population of more than 35000 They lived a year in Leadville and were about to leave for the East when late in May of 1880 Jack caught cold which developed into pneumonia On the morning of June 28 1880 John Burwell Omohundro died He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery Leadville Twenty-eight years later in September 1908 Colonel Cody then head of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show found his path led through Leadville He erected a granite monument at the hedd of Texas Jack's grave Ctaa lUUar Ua Hw t-t PM Oln Jaly li INI Hu Fin Ctits TlLIUL 2- i' i a-V -f iii i tn i $Jgjp xn fi srf St 'ffj i 6 i i fV -i I ilt im -i 4 'i "i I a vi i I Tj? i I 1 i ai the stage and neither could remember the first lines much leu those to follow Bunting jumped to the stage and saved the day by asking Cody and Jack about their hunting experiences and the crowd roared with delight The play went on to a triumphant ooncluaion but neither Buffalo Bill nor Jack spoke a line of their original parts The play went on tour and in April 1873 It played the old Richmond Theater which at that time was on the corner of Seventh and Broad Streets Richmontl Liked Jack Malvern Hiil Omohundro who now lives in Goochland County tells of the engagement in Richmond was only 6 years old then and I have today 70-odd years later vivid recollections of the three days and nights we spent in he said recently gave my mother a ring he had made froi a atone he found on the Red River in Texas My mother gave it to me when I was 21 and I am wearing it today "I have never seen nor heard of another ring like it It is invaluable money can't buy it He gave me a gun for hunting a velvet suit and a peculiar pocket knife which I still have relatives and acquaintances AmUMKIHIIrkau in ua EaWra4 Im parts of the country Two seamen condemned to hang at Norfolk for illegal acts at sea confessed from the scaffold that they had been members of a pirate crew which murdered all hands aboard The Patriot A dying Texan in 1830 in like manner cleared his conscience Another confession came from an aged man in a Cas-aopolis Michigan poor house and still another from a marine hospital in Detroit A criminal in Toombs Prison Nw York claimed that he too had a part in the crime A Pirate Confexxex In 1872 Charles Gayar re popular Louisiana historian published his story of Dominick You This also concerned the last words of a dying pirate and the story was supposedly based on fact You It was said had related the fate of Theodosia Burr to a Dr Rhinebeck of New Orleans As captain of a pirate ship You claimed that ha had ordered the looting of a schooner "on the 3rd of January 1813 in the latitude of Cape and all on hoard were slaughtered and thrown into the sea But when a beautiful woman was brought from below who said she was the wife of the Governor of South Carolina and the daugh ter of a former Vice-President of the United States the pirates thought of holding her for ransom She begged a release through death and ascended the plank and walked to her doom 1 A new version of the tragedy appeared In the Elizabeth City C) Economist in 1888 A Dr Pool had acquired a portrait from a home along the Banks of North Carolina near Kitty Hawk which he felt certain was the likeness of Theodosia Burr Thp previous owner an elderly woman related to Pool that her husband a man named Tillett many years previous bad on4 morning seen a vessel with all sails set stranded on the bar He and fellow had gone to her aid only to find th4 ship a derelict deserted and not a living thing on board save a small black dog The table had been set for a meal and everything was in order In the cabin hung the portrait of a dark-eyed beauty which Tinett admired and had kept through the years From the time of the Economist's story until the turn of the century the presses burned from Bratton to Alabama with the newly discovered clues to the unsolved mystery of Theodosia Burr The public was assured that bankers" with Tillett as leader had wrecked the Patriot Hysterical female writers described the blood-thirsty cries of land pirates as they rushed out to swarm over the ship to murder beautiful Theodosia Burr Tillett and his neighbors long dead were not there to defend themselves but others more fair bitterly defended the as pious poor fishing folk and straight-laced Methodists which they were known to be But for many years they bore the stigma of pirates And the Mona Lisa of the North Carolina Banks remained unidentified The British Admiralty Speaks Murderous continued until 1902 when an aged member of the Alston family weary with the yarn wrote to the New York Times Saturday Review to deny the portrait as that of Mrs Alston and all legends concerned with it He based his claim cm an unpublished ment which had come through the British admiralty after the War of 1812 The statement was related in England to General Thomas Pinckney kinsman of the Alstons The Patriot said the admiralty had encountered the British fleet off Hatteras on Jan 1 1813 The records noted Governor letter and the passage granted The admiralty had surmised that the little vessel had gone down In the gale which had scattered the British fleet The final testimony of this much-disputed tragedy came a few months later from Denver Cola The Denver story was told by a 108-year-old man who claimed that as a youth returned from England he had overheard sailors relate their part in the murder of Aaron daughter at sea With this last claim which was thought to be an old fabrication the strange legends dimmed Into a forgotten past Today there is scarcely a memory to recall the stories concerned with the tragic fate of Theodosia Burr Four years after that December morning of 1812 Joseph Alston died a broken man in his To Aaron Burr he had sent a few trinkets which Theodosia had possessed a minute satinw'ood box and a bit of lace Burr lived 23 years after the tragedy It eras said his favorite haunt in Ms latter years was the Battery where he cduld look down the bay and watch for the bright flash of sun on billowing sails Theodosia Burr Alston from a Stuart portrait the illness of his wife The Alstons had' a few weeks prior lost their only child Twelve Ijrunks were stowed away and in one of these were all of Aaron Burr's personal papers It was not known that Theodosia carried a pet' but later a small black dog was found aboard a derelict ship The little animal was destined to figure in history The Governor saw the anchor hoisted the sails unfurled to billow in the wind' and then watched as The Patriot sailed into the unknown Petite in stature Theodosia Burr Alston was endowed with unusual beauty and charm Burr had given his daughter rare John Burnell Omohundro in his guise a very bad drought in the State of Tennessee and many were reported to be starving When Omohundro heard of this down in Texas he rounded up a large herd of eattlo investing all his capital in the venture and with the aid of other cowboys set off for Tennessee After losing part of hirherd and seven of his cow hands going through the Indian territory he arrived six months later in a town in Western Tennessee The hungry population awoke that day to see a herd of cattle approaching Wild with glee the Mayor of the town rah up and asked who was handling the herd Texas Jack Has Saved Us 1 i Omohundo came forward saying he was your the squire asked was the reply are you the squire asked said Jack "Well the squire yelled to the crowd "here is Texas Jack who has saved The name stuck Later during one of his trips north with cattle Texas Jack met William Cody that time a scout in the service of the United States Army The buffalo killer was so struck with Jack that he got him a -contract to hunt for Fort McPherson During the next few years Texas Jack hunted bison for the fort and had skirmishes many times with hostile Indians especially the Comanche tribe His most spectacular exploit against Indians came when he was caught alone miles from the fort A whole tribe of Indians surrounded him and cut off escape One Against a Tribe The Indians knowing his ability with the rifle did not attack even though they -knew he was alone but tried to starve him out After seven days Texas Jack decided tip make the attack himself When he was close to the Indians he ordered his horse to lie down as he had been trained to do1 As the Indians began to advance on him -Jack took a position behind the horse and opened repeating rifle fire over the horse's back Every shot brought down a Redshin The others retreated then started at him from the rear Jack just turned the horse around and repeated the demonstration of marksmanship Having dispersed the Indians Jaek got By Maurice Bean VOUNG Virginians like American chil- I dren in every State hope for Hopalong Cassidy costumes Red Ryder carbines and rubber rockiqg-hones made In the likeness of a horse called come Christmas morning Not one has written Santa Claus to ask for a Texas Jack rig though Jack who was born and grew up in Fluvanna County was top frontiersman and Western scout in the days when the West was really Jumping-off place for Indian evils when wild and the frontier was a place where two-gun men were men and both guns were loaded Bom John Burwell Omohundro July 26 1846 he gained fame as TTexas Jack" a nickname given him early in manhood A one-time partner of Colonel William (Buffalo Bill) Cody In Western exploits and later In "Wild ifrest" show business Omohundro had few peers in the wide open spaces of the West Some of Texas feats were brought to light in a book Omohundroe and Their Kin" recently published by Malvern Hill Omohundro of Goochland County The volume contains 1287 pages profusely Illustrated dealing with eleven generations of the Omohundro family in America since 167 CL The author began to collect genealogical data in 1905 The book was published by the author and was manufactured by the McClure Publishing Company Staunton It is being sold for 1 15 a copy The history contains no more picturesque character than the "boy scout of -the Confederacy" who grew up to be the close friend business partner and rival Buffalo Bill lie Fought for Stuart John Omohundro was bom at his home near Palmyra He was educated In the county schools and by private tutor He never liked confinement of the school room and he fond of work From early youth It was clear that he was a natural-bom fisherman hunter horseman and marksman Any kind of danger or adventure seemed to be his delight and he wea an Inveterate lover of the out-of-doors When he was 14 years old the War Between the States broke and young Omohundro attempted to enlist but was net accepted until two years later He was then assigned to the command of Stuart where he gained renown ae a aeout of ability and bravery Before Appomattox he became widely known as the aeout of the After the war like many other residents ef the Impoverished State of Virginia young Omohundro heard of Immense renehee in Texas and their wealthy owners It sounded Just like the life he wanted el hi short order he migrated to the West Young Man Gom West la an ef his early biographies the tale is told ef his travels from hie home to Texas en horseback He was beset by robbers mere than once but he was always able to ahoot his way dear He arrived finally at the Taylor ranch in Texas and went to work as a eowboy He la also recorded that he Intervened when a gang of seven were about to kidnap a very attractive Mrs Sophie Elgin rifle stopped all ef them when they tried to open the door with a ram Later he became foreman of the Taylor ranch and made considerable money driving cattle from Texas to Nebraska and Missouri and selling them He received his nickname a name that was to stick with him the rest of his life in the late sixties The acsdjs say there was qqa eese fabliehed Weekly by Seadle and Adame no 006 1 a so William St Ksw Vk Mademoiselle Morlacchi was Texas wife on his horse aiid rode back-to -the fort unharmed killing a deer on the way 'This and similar exploits brought Texas Jack a reputation at an Indian fighter Cody finally was Influential in having made a United States government scout even though a -law at the time said' that Confederate veterans could not be to employed Working together Cody and Jack became faat friends During this time he gained wide fame as a scout and hunter for wealthy Americans and Englishmen who came West for wild game father to whom he wrote regularly told other members of the dmohundro family numbers of interesting stories and anecdotes of various experiences one hit father said "Jack Invited Lord Beckingham and a party to go on a grizzly bear hunting trip in the Rocky Mountains The trip was so successful that on his return to Europe Lord Beckingham aa a token of appreciation sent Jack a silver mounted gun that cost more than The Old Apple Target Then there was the story of Texas Jack's wonderful markmanship He would have a man stand with hands out an apple in each hand and one on top of his head Jack then would stand 30 steps off with his back to the man He would wheel around and shoot the apples off the head and hands in three seconds He never lost an assistant The fast friendship with Cody remained until death parted them When decided to go East and enter the show business it was natural that should go with him' He and Cody went on to great success In show business and Wild West Shows It is said that Texas Jack was the first person to lasso an Indian on the American Stage By this time he had become the hero of a book written by Ned Buntline titled which gained him wide fame around 1870 fc 4 4 I I When Memory Falls In the Winter of 1872-73 Buntline decided to produce a play in Chicago called of the He employed Jack and Cody to take the leading roles The pair had exactly one day to commit the lines to memory On opening night the pair eame eut en THE MUSTANG KING In Malvern Hill Omohundm's archives is this copy of a nickel novel by Ned Bimtline in which the Virginian called Texas Jack waa a star -j '1.